I'm leading three more Tropical Fish Collecting Trips in the Peruvian Amazon this year. Right now I'm seeing the cheapest R/T flights ever to Lima from Dulles at sub $400 roundtrip on several airlines. Add the flights Lima/Iquitos/Lima on LATAM for ~$200 or use one of the discount airlines taht fly that route for even less. Here is a link the fish collecting trips: http://www.mtamazon.com/calendar Two trips in August and a very special trip in October that rpovides a complete tax write off if you itemize deductions. The October trip should provide fish species rarely if ever seen before in the hobby.

The Board of Directors issued a grant to Project Amazonas to have a graduate student in Iquitos conduct a study of fish at the Santa Cruz reserve. The work entitled: DIVERSIDAD DE PECES ORNAMENTALES EN LA RESERVA FORESTAL SANTA CRUZ, RÍO MAZÁN, CUENCA DEL NAPO, IQUITOS, PERÚ. - Diversity of ornamental fish in the Santa Cruz Forest Reserve..... is attached. I will now start on a translation; however, no promises when that will be done.

Free two 55 gallon rain barrels. Plumbed with water spigot.

We are landscaping with the intention of going very low maintenance so we can stay in place for a few more years. Accordingly, the pond comes out the first week of May. The shubunkins will be in the May mini-auction. Anyone want the liner - it is free to whomever is willing to work with me on the removal. I also have several thousand dollars invested in the pump, filter and UV light. Anyone building a pond?? Artesian 2 pump (w/another for parts) Ultima Bead Filter Queries welcome.

The PVAS Foundation, Inc. is an AmazonSmile listed charity. The Foundation was set up as a 501(c)(3) non-profit because the Potomac Valley Aquarium Society is a 501(c)(4) not-for-profit social organization. Donations to PVAS are not tax deductible. The Foundation supports grants for Tropical Fish Research and Rainforest Preservation. The Foundation purchased ~75 acres of Peruvian Rainforest in 2019 and just recently funded a grant request to do a fish survey on that land. The foundation receives .5% of every purchase and it's costs the purchaser nothing. I'm going to go through my wishlist to order before AmazonSmile sunsets. Please consider doing the same.

Great news that DC is soon to have a local fish store. Jake (co-owner with his dad) and Chris (Fish Care Supervisor) from Capital Exotic Fish attended the January 2023 meeting. Capital Exotic Fish is a corporate member and I'm hoping that soon they will have a dedicated space on the Forum to keep us informed of the opening, etc. https://www.capitalexoticfish.com

I'm mentoring a middle-schooler just starting his tropical fish hobby. We set up a 20H and are now ready for fish. His interest is to start with shoaling (his word without coaxing) fish. I'm looking for healthy rock solid starter fish - thinking Zebra Danios. Any one have a half dozen to spare to help get him started. Or, something better. Once tank is cycled will add a few Corydoras - thinking smallish, maybe Pandas. Then another shoaling fish to occupy the strata not occupied by the first group.

PVAS will raffle a new unopened Haifoss Water Fall kit starting in January. Tickets will be sold at the January, February and March meetings. Drawing at the March meeting. Winning ticket number to be posted after the March meeting for pickup in April if winner is not in attendance.

We are selling folding tables and chairs that PVAS purchased for our participation at the Dulles Pet-Expo. For sale are: Set of four Cosco folding chairs - plastic, lightweight, brown. These sell for $100 on Amazon for a set of four. Asking $25 for the set. Four Lifetime 2'x4' folding tables, that fold down to 2'x2'. White color. These sell for ~$70 on-line. Asking $17.50 each. Will deliver to the January meeting if paid in advance via PayPal Friends and Family to PVASTreasurer@gmail.com.

Quarter box square bottom bags - 7.5" x 6.5" x 24.5" 3 mil bags - 25 for $8.50 2 mil bags - 25 for $6.00 Half box square bottom bags - 25 for $11.25 2mil 12" x 22" bags 100 for $11.44 Delivery only if Prepaid via friends and family to Michael.Restazonia@gmail.com

Did a search on the forum on subject. Only Found Frank Cowherd's talk on meters. I need by the end of the week recommendations for the best sub $100 test meter to send down to the Project Amazonas Santa Cruz Rainforest Preserve for a fish survey to be conducted -- will include looking at fish on the land purchased a few years ago with donations made to the PVAS Foundation, Inc. Need obviously pH, TDS and Temp if possible in one very durable instrument for field work in the jungle. Thoughts please soonest as I need to order and have delivered to New Jersey by Thursday next week.

Members Only: Free fish racks gentled used by PVAS at CatCon and Fish Shows. There are three three shelf units and one two shelf unit available at this price. Dimensions are 8'x3'; however, they could easily be reconfigured to fit any space. The lumber alone is well worth north of $100. Only caveat - must pick up no later than this weekend and take away from my garage in Reston, VA.

As many of you know I've been traveling to the Amazon for many years to collect neo-tropical fish. I just booked R/T tickets from Dulles to Iquitos for the least amount I've ever paid - $522.72. So if you've been on the fence about joining me, January 2022 is a great time to travel down on the cheap. We are trying something different this January by offering two trip options: 10 and 7 days since some aren't able to take the time off work to do the full 10-day trip. So we plan to functionally break the trip into two parts. We will do 7 days on the boat and 3 days collecting/exploring at the Santa Cruz Forest Reserve* - that way the one-weekers could do the boat trip, and the long-termers would be able to do both the boat and the field station. We have the field station at the start, since at the end of the boat-based portion, we need to be getting any collected fish delivered to the exporters and readied for shipping to BWI. Dates: 10 day: 13 - 22 January 7 day: 16 - 22 January Check out the calendar: http://www.mtamazon.com/calendar I don't handle the financials so you'll need to send a query in that regard to Devon at Devon@projectamazonas.org COVID-19: Currently Peru is about 45% fully or partially vaccinated, and I expect that the vaccination rate will exceed that of the US by year's end. All of our crew have had their first shot of Pfizer as of this time, so they'll all be fully vaccinated well before the end of the year. I expect that vaccines for 5-11 year olds will be approved soon in the US as well, and come 2022, Peru may start requiring proof of vaccination from incoming passengers, and dispense with the other measures currently in place. Can't make any firm predictions, of course! Questions? Michael@projectamazonas.org *The PVAS Foundation, Inc. helped purchase land at this forest reserve so we will get a chance to explore that parcel. Even better we can create a list of fish we collect on that parcel.

Just a friendly reminder that commission checks for the October Auction will be mailed to the address in My Group Auctions. Sellers please verify that your mailing address is up to date. Thank you, PVAS Treasurer

All free items I posted--plus many more--earlier this week made the trip to Richmond the next day for the James River Aquarium Society Spring Tailgate Tagsale event on Saturday, May 22. See David Sombach's posting for further information.